Waiters: Please Stop Order-Shaming Me For My Dish

I spent the past few weeks in France with my husband. It was a lovely, romantic, once-in-a-lifetime-type trip that we were both sad to see end. We were discussing that very fact over our last dinner of the vacation — until a server noticed what I was eating.

"What is this!?" he asked. "You must be the first person to ever order this here!" he insisted. He got up real close: "What ... did you do??"

Y'all, I'd ordered steak-frites. At a French restaurant. In France. Granted, it was at a seafood restaurant famous for its bouillabaisse, but still.

Probably for fear he hadn't gotten his point across (he was speaking French to two very obviously American tourists), the guy stopped in again on his way back to the kitchen. This time, he told me the restaurant should hang my picture on the wall for being the only person in the history of the establishment to ever order meat in those hallowed halls.

Before you ask: Yes, I understood him properly. No, I am not exaggerating. Yes, the steak was good. And, yeah, no, I don't think I'm being dramatic!!!!

A post shared by Dicky Lee (@dickyleetheking) on May 24, 2017 at 12:53pm PDT

Seriously, though. Does ordering a classic French meal instead of a different classic French meal at a legit French restaurant call for such public shaming? Did my decision to eat something that wasn't the restaurant's pride and joy justify this dude's repeated Kimmy Gibbler-ing into my meal? On that note, is there ever any reason you should feel pressured to order something you're "supposed" to order?

Anyone who makes you feel bad about what you choose to eat in any capacity is an A-S-S-H-A-T, and, and, AND ... there are plenty of reasons to not cave to the pressure to order what everyone says you have to at any given place.

Firstly, maybe you don't like, say, smelly fish-filled vats of soup, or, IDK, a super undercooked patty topped with smelly cheese (yeah, I think the classic burger at NYC's Spotted Pig is icky, don't @ me). But that paves the way for trying new, unexpected things, like, say, a really nicely cooked steak at a tiny seafood place off the beaten path in Cannes, or, like, IDK, some light 'n' heavenly ricotta gnudi at a huge place in the middle of Manhattan forever known for its burger.

And when you do discover non-signature delights because you dared to order something that wasn't a touted staple, you should enjoy it. You should celebrate it!

Unless, of course, you think there should be a mugshot on the wall of all Magnolia Bakery outposts of the first person to walk in and be like "f*ck cupcakes, I want banana pudding." Seriously! Do you think Mr. Cheesecake Factory berated whoever first said, "What if you had desserts that were — hear me out — not ... cheesecake?" If he did, we wouldn't have Godiva Chocolate Brownie Sundaes™ or Cheesecake Factory Carrot Cake. How will you ever know about all the other great things that aren't The Thing if you're too discouraged to try them?

None of this is to say you should be ashamed of wanting to go to Nashville's most famous hot chicken joint, to gobble up that famous hot chicken. Didn't we talk earlier about how people who shame your food choices are awful? It's just to say you should also not be ashamed of secretly wanting to get the southern chicken because you know the hot chicken is going to destroy your body and face for the next 12 hours, despite the fact that everyone around you insists that's "all part of the experience."

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Delish participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.